Toy vehicle track sets may include one or more track sections arranged to form a path around which one or more toy vehicles can travel. The toy vehicles may be either self-powered or receive power from an external source. Devices used to accelerate unpowered toy vehicles around a track are often referred to as boosters.
Boosters typically include a pair of motor-driven rotating wheels flanking a linear portion of the track. As a vehicle passes between the booster wheels, the rotating wheels temporarily engage the sides of the toy vehicle and accelerate the toy vehicle forward.
Typical booster wheels suffer from several problems. Typical booster motors constantly work to keep the booster wheels spinning at all times. This can waste a substantial amount of energy. As such, typical boosters that are powered by batteries may require frequent battery changes. Furthermore, typical boosters accelerate toy vehicles over a linear portion of the track and are incapable of accelerating a toy vehicle around a corner of the track. Furthermore, because typical boosters engage the sides of a toy vehicle, they may not perform well with toy vehicles that have irregularly shaped sides.